Someday Pigs Will Fly

We created our first concept animal photo way back in 1992. Photo District News had a headline and story that “Someday pigs will fly, and Photoshop will be used for professional work”. The thing was, We (I back then) had already been using Photoshop professionally for two years. Admittedly it was difficult; it took forty minutes to rotate a thirty-megabyte file, and you couldn’t see anything but the bounding box until the rotation was complete and the screen refreshed…then it was typical that you might be rotated a bit too far, or not quite far enough. Back then there were no layers, was no history, and in the very beginning, there weren’t any clipping paths. No it wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t fast, but you could do professional work with Photoshop.

Ear Tags, Pigs and Photoshop

That PDN headline annoyed me and spurred me on to create an image of Pigs Flying. As it turned out, early in my career I had photographed pigs for All flex ear tags. Those were the days! I had to not only photograph the ear tags; I had to install them too! At any rate, I had a shot of a pig from a pretty low angle. I had a high res scan made of the pig, stripped it out, and put it into another image I had of a stormy sky. I then took the wings from a photo of an Egret I had shot for a new housing development brochure and fused them into the pig. I then duplicate the winged-pig image twice and positioned them for my final image. Not nearly as easy as would be with today’s more sophisticated Photoshop and powerful computers.

Studio Photography; Lions, Baboons and a Reindeer

We love working with animals, and photography gives us the chance to do so with some pretty exotic animals. We have brought into our studio and photographed, a lion, a baboon, a deer, a reindeer, turkeys, chickens, more cats and dogs than I can count, ducks, geese, rats, mice, and, well, you get the picture. We have worked with elephants, a tiger, countless snakes, and of course, cows.

Twenty Years of Photoshop

When creating concept animal photos, whether for stock or assignment, preparation is key. Having the necessary photographic elements makes the digital imaging aspect a pleasure to do; not having the necessary parts can turn the imaging portion of the job into a nightmare. Because we do all the photography and imaging we don’t have to guess about what elements we need, or how to best shoot them to achieve the effect we want. Communication breakdowns between photographer and imager are eliminated. When it comes to digital experience, well, twenty years of using Photoshop leaves us in good standing.

Stampeding Longhorns and Chickens in Sneakers

From stampeding longhorn cattle, to chickens crossing the road in sneakers, to a wolf in sheep’s clothing, any animal concept can be accomplished. Whether it is a deer in the headlights, raining cats and dogs, or a sea of rabbits, we can make it happen. Even when it comes to animals of the imagination you will find us up to the task. We created a fanciful giant shark-eating fish for Fujitsu, a fire-breathing dragon for Getty, and Big Time Cat Wrestling for Portal Publications. Whatever you need in the way of animal imagery, we can do it for you too.